Fence-post.



I. H. MOSHER.

FENCE POST. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1914.

Patented Jan. 25, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET' 1.

vouRAPI-l c0.. WASHINGTON D c J. H. MOSHER.

FENCE POST. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1914;

1,169,348. Patentd Jan. 25, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- JAME$ H. MOSHER, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

FENCE-POST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 25, 1916.

Application filed November 3, 1914. Serial No. 870,040.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs H. MosHER, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fence-Posts, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings.

The present invention relates to fence posts and more particularly to that type formed from sheet metal in hollow construction, an object of this invention being to provide a construction which will be strong and durable, in use, will provide a wide bearing surface for the wires, will resist all tendency to bend or yield laterally, will have wire fastening means which will effectively secure the fence wires and will retard oxidization.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain parts and combinations of parts all of which will be hereinafter described, the novel features being pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a view of one embodiment of the invention inserted at one end in the earth and having a wire fence secured thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view showing a portion of the embodiment of Fig. 1 with wires fitted beneath the fastening tongues before the latter are bent about such wires; Fig. 3 is a section on the line (L'Z, Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a side view of the upper end of the post as shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the post after the wire fastening tongues have been bent about the wires; and Figs. 6 to 14: are detail views of difierent embodiments of the invention showing the wire fastening tongues lying in the plane of the adjacent face of the post, it being apparent however that the tongues normally project from said plane to permit the introduction of the wires beneath them.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicates the post which preferably is formed from a single blank of sheet metal bent into hollow form. It has been found that the most desirable form is triangular in cross section, the meeting edges of the blank being positioned on one of the flat sides of the post, and this flat side being the one which is provided with the wire fastening devices which will be described in detail hereinafter. By this arrangement, a wide bearing is provided against which the wires will abut and this hearing has a resiliency which takes up sudden jars on a post pro duced by animals or other objects suddenly contacting with the wires. It has also been found desirable to provide an open joint in the post in order that the lower end of the post may spread when driven into the earth and, in this way, form an enlargement at the lower end of the post to prevent the ready withdrawal of the post from the ground. To the end of preventing the post from having one portion driven in advance of the other and, in this way, causing the distortion of the post throughout its length, the meeting edges. of the blank are formed with projections 2, the projections at one edge extending between the projections on the other edge so that an interlocking joint is'provided which, when the post is driven into the earth, prevents one meeting edge being driven in advance of the other.

Another feature of this invention is the arrangement or location of the wire fastening devices. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 5,.these wire fastening devices are in the form of tongues 3 struck up from the metal of the post on opposite sides of the joint between the meeting edges preferably from the projections 2, the tongues on one side of the joint extending downwardly while those on the other side of the joint extend upwardly the tongues on the two sides being in such close arrangement that the depending tongues each project from a point adjacent the upper end of one of the upwardly extending tongues to a point adj acent the lower end and, in this way, either a downwardly extending tongue or an upwardly extending tongue, or both, may be caused to engage a wire t of the fence so that if either of such tongues becomes broken, the other of the tongues may be employed for holding the wire. Another advantage of this close location of the tongues is that either one may be deflected slightly so that the other may be bent more easily, and, furthermore, the two tongues provide a large opening by which air may enter the post, and, in this way, retard oxidization. As the two tongues engage a single wire 4 on opposite sides on an open joint they tend to tie the joint together and give to the wire a longer bearing surface. Being located in proximity to the joint, these tongues do not .weaken the post transversely to any material extent as they would iflocated away from the joint.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6, the projections 2 have three sides and two tongues 3 of triangular form the tongues being cut from each projection on opposite sides thereof. Here, as in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 5, interlocking projections are provided on the meeting edges of the post and oppositely-extending wire fastening tongues lie on opposite sides of the joint. This is also true of the embodiment shown in Fig. 7 where theforms of the projections 2 and the tongues 3 have been varied. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 8, no interlocking projections are provided but, instead, the meeting edges of the blank are parallel or straight. From the two straight edges, the oppositely-extending tongues 3 are out. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 9, projections2 are employed of the form shown in Figs. land 7 but only on one side of the joint are the projections 3 provided and these extend upwardly. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 10, the projections 2 are like those shown in Fig.9 and o 'ipositely-extending projections 3 arranged on opposite sides of the joint are employed but these projections lie in different horizontal planes and are not arranged in pairs in one horizontal plane as shown in Figspl, 6, 7 and 8. In Fig. 11, the form of the projections 2 is curved while the wire fastening tongues 3 are struck up from points within the lines of the projections 2 and on opposite sides of the joint, but in different horizontal planes. In Fig. 12, the projections 2 are formed similar to those shown in Fig. 11 but are smaller and the tongues 3 are arranged in horizontal planes on opposite sides of the joint. In Fig. 13, a straight joint is provided as in Fig. 8 but the tongues 3* which lie in pairs in horizontal planes, differ in form from those shown in Fig. 8, being wedge-shaped. In Fig. 14, the projections 2 are similar to those of Fig. 7 but the form of the wire fastening tongues 3 are different, being weaker than those shown in Fig. 7 but not weakening the posts so much traversely. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 6 to 14:, the wire fastening tongues have been, for the purpose of simplicity, illustrated ina plane with the post face, but, it is apparent that in use, these tongues willbe deflected outwardly to facilitate the introduction of the wires beneath them.

By describing theuse of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 5, the use of the other embodiments will be apparent. The post is driven into the ground in the usual manner and, owing to the open joint, the lower end of the post spreads at the joint, thus causing the lower end of the post to enlarge and thereby to be held against easy removal. In driving the post, the interlocking projections prevent one side of the joint advancing ahead of the other and, in this way, a distortion of the post above the ground does not take place. In introducing the wires 4:,

beneath the tongues 3, one tongue of each pair is either bent inwardly or outwardly, to facilitate the wire being introduced beneath the other tongue which is then bent about the wire. If the first mentioned tongue has been bent inwardly, it cannot be used for securing the wire but if it has been bent outwardly, it may also be bent about the wire to hold the latter. When both tongues are bent about a single wire, they provide a wide bearing surface for the, latter, and, at the same time, tend to lock the joint between the meeting edges of the blank forming the post. This close arrangement of the two tongues provides an opening in,

the post which will admit air to the interior of the post, and, in this way, reduce oxidiza tion. The tongues are located at the joint and, consequently, do not weaken the post transversely as they would if located away from such joint. Furthermore, the joint Y makes resilient those portions of the post against which the wires 4 bear and, in this way, take up sudden jars on the post. The cross sectional form of the. post, together with the location of the fastening tongues, on a flat side thereof having an open joint, also adds to the transverse strength of the post. .While the invention. has been described as a fence post, it is apparent that it is not limited to this use but that it may be employed in any structure where it is desired to secure a member transversely of amember constructed like the herein described post.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: r

1. A post bent from sheet metal into hollow form and having its meeting edges unconnected, bendable tongues extending outwardly from a face of the post on opposite sides of the joint, a tongue on one side of the joint projecting downwardly and lying in a horizontal plane with an upwardly extending tongue on the opposite side of the joint and both tongues being connectedto the post by horizontal bends in the stock, and each of said tongues havingan edge forming a part of the meeting edge of the stock, such edge on a downwardly extending tongue being parallel with and opposite to a like edge on an upwardly-extending tongue so that such tongues act to prevent the col: lapsing of the post.

2. A post formed from sheet metal 1nto hollow form and having its meeting edges provided with projections, the projections on one edge extending between-the pro ections on the other edge'to provide an inter a hollow form and having its meeting edges from said projections and connected thereto horizontal bends, and the tongues on one by horizontal bends in the stock. side of the joint extending upwardly While 3. A post formed from sheet metal into those on the other side extend downwardly.

JAMES H. MOSHER.

locking joint, and bendable tongues formed of said projections and connected thereto by 10 provided with projections, the projections on one edge extending between the projeclVitnesses: tions on the other edge to provide an lnter- HAROLD H. SIMMs, locking joint, tongues formed from portlons ADA M. WHITMORE.

Copies 'of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Uommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

